martes, 12 de enero de 2016

Student Jobs Analysis.



Do you remember the movie “Back to the Future”? This is one of my favorite movies, because it truly made me understand the concept of time travel. Would it not be amazing to travel back and forth through time? This has always been a dream of mine. As a matter of fact, it is also the inspiration for today’s little exercise. 
If I were to become a student again and I had to look for a job, what would I find?  With that premise in mind, I started analyzing the job market via Jobillico. Here is what I came up with:


There were 944 new openings specifically targeted to students. Here are the top 10 postings (as in ‘most often repeated’) that are meant specifically for students


Job title
Number of companies looking for these jobs
Publicist
137
Culinary Promotional Agent
46
Science Host
26
Brand Representative
9
Floor Clerk
2
Retail Salesman
2
Room Attendant
2
Sales Rep.
2
Rustproofing Technician
2
Telemarketer
2


These figures show that there were several companies looking to hire for these posts. On the other hand, there are other posts that are not so popular with students for which there is a greater number of vacancies. For example: 


Post
Vacancies
General Labour (student)
944
General Labour (student)
100
Event Coordinator
15
Day Care Educator
15
General Labour
15
Production Worker
15
Brand Representative
15
Promotional Agent
10
Science Host
10
Roofing Workers
10
Brand Representative
10


What this means is that there are some companies that are willing to hire more students. These openings were likely posted by a single company (one that has several openings for the same position and that wishes to hire students).

Now, let’s try to answer the question that has been at the back of your mind since the beginning of this article. “What positions pay the most?” you ask. Well, here is the answer:


Job title
Hourly Rate
Sales Coordinator
$19,00
Daycare Educator
$18,42
Promotional Agents
$17,00
Housekeeper
$16,34
General Worker (Installation)
$15,00
Marketing and Communication Assistant
$15,00
General Labour
$13,34
Retail Salesman
$12,50
General Labour (manufacturing)
$12,50
Storage Labour
$12,50
Demonstrator
$12,50
Bus Driver (special needs)
$12,24
Service Attendant
$12,14
Food Promotional Agent
$12,00
Caregiver
$12,00
Order Picker
$12,00
Caregiver (retirement house)
$12,00

Table «C »




It is worth mentioning that many postings don’t specify the hourly rate. Where this data is available, the best paid jobs are in the fields of Sales and Caregiving (for kids, the elderly and people with special needs).


If I run a frequency analysis, the most frequently listed rate is $12 per hour. One of the obvious characteristics of being a student is that they are still going to school: a part-time job, or at least some scheduling flexibility, is required. Running a schedule-related analysis, I came up with:


Time
Frequency
12 to 2 PM
46
1 PM
9
Part-time
7
40 h
6
Full time, part-time
4
10 to 20 h
3
20 to 40 h
3
Full time
3
10 to 30 h
2
15 to 40 h
2

Table « E »



Clearly, most of the postings are in the 12 to 2 PM range . Some of them don’t mention how many hours they’re likely to give, but do specify they have part-time vacancies. This is important because it allows for the flexibility students normally require.

The last thing to review is what kind of skills, qualities or tasks are listed for these student-oriented jobs:







Conclusion:

If I were a student looking for work today, I would find a job where there is a lot of schedule flexibility to allow me to focus on studying. The jobs that are most often posted for someone with my profile are in Sales or Care Giving. I would most likely earn $12 an hour (a little bit above minimum wage). I might make more if I developed my sales skills, but this is the most likely figure, at maybe 12 to 14 hours per week, with the option of working some mornings and afternoons.



Now let’s be a bit more specific about actions or steps that I would take if I were to get a job as a student today. As you can see in Table ‘A’ the position that has the most openings is ‘Publicist’. Looking at Table ‘B’, I see that ‘General Labour’ is the post that has the most vacancies. It is worth pointing out that the first table tells me the number of times the post has been published by different companies. The second table lists the number of openings for each company per post. I would therefore apply for the posts listed in Table ‘B’ because it means that one company has several vacancies for students for a single post and also that this company is willing to hire several students at once.



Another important thing to consider is what skills you want to learn or develop. You should definitely think about your career path and not just about “getting a job”. Work can (and should) be very fulfilling, so learning what skills you want to develop is a priority. I would very likely get a job in Sales since I consider the skills in that area extremely important. The pay in other areas may seem better (Daycare Educator, for example) but the skill set I am interested in acquiring will be better developed as a Salesman. It is important, as well, to look at Table “F” and see how most of the skills that employers are asking for can be summed up simply as a willingness to work. In general, I perceive a certain gloomy attitude towards the job market, but I truly believe there are many opportunities for those who are willing to deliver results.



It is important to explain this. This analysis was created from the data on the opportunities at Jobillico at the start of September. Hopefully, it has provided you with a better idea of what type of opportunities can be found out there, besides in the fast food joints.

Source of the data student jobs in Jobillico